San Jose Sharks 2, Anaheim Ducks 3 FINAL

Associated Press

ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) -- Ruslan Salei said he just threw the puck at the net.

Into the net, more precisely, to cap the Anaheim Mighty Ducks' comeback in
their 3-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Wednesday night.

Salei and Petr Sykora scored 49 seconds apart in the third period as Anaheim
rallied from a 2-0 first-period deficit.

"I just wristed it up, it hit one of their sticks and the goalie was a
little out of position," Salei said of his shot from the left boards near the
blue line.

"I got lucky. It was about time," added Salei, who hadn't scored this
season.

The Ducks' Andy McDonald scored to close the gap to 2-1 with 13 seconds left
in the second period.

Sykora's goal 7:20 into the third tied it briefly before Salei completed the
comeback.

Anaheim got off only four shots to the Sharks' 11 in the first period, but
outshot them 16-3 in the second and 10-6 in the third.

"We spotted them two goals and came back, and I think we deserved to win
because we outworked them in the second and third periods," Salei said.

Anaheim coach Mike Babcock said it was simple.

"They were a lot better than us in the first period. They skated better,
moved the puck better," Babcock said. "But we were better than they were in
the second and third periods."

San Jose coach Ron Wilson called it a learning experience for his young
team.

"Tonight the lesson was that when we start to think we're good enough to
play one period, we're in serious trouble," Wilson said. "And that's what we
did tonight. We played one period. We stopped skating."

Sykora skated down the slot and knocked in a rebound of Vitaly Vishnevski's
shot for his ninth goal.

Soon afterward, Steve Rucchin sent the puck around the boards to Salei, who
shot quickly and caught Vesa Toskala leaning to the right side of the goal.

Scott Hannan and Scott Parker scored for the Sharks.

Breaking down the left wing, McDonald caught up with Joffrey Lupul's leading
pass, skated into the left circle and beat Toskala with a shot that just
cleared his raised glove and went into the top-right corner of the goal. The
goal was McDonald's fifth.

Parker made it 2-0 with 3:23 remaining in the opening period when he fought
his way through a defender on the right boards near center ice and beat Martin
Gerber on the glove side for his first goal.

Hannan scored on a 50-footer 7:33 in. Hannan's slap shot also beat the
Anaheim goalie on the glove side, with Gerber's vision was blocked by several
players on the play. The goal was Hannan's second.